Great summer jobs for kids.
I picked berries and beans starting when I was about 10.....on my own at 12/13.....nowadays they probably would say a CAUCASION had to be 16 years old, have a work permit, etc....before they would even consider them.
When I was young - and I mean 8-10 - we used to get out of school two weeks in the fall to pick potatoes.
We LOVED it = (and I'm a 'girl') - two weeks out of the classroom, getting paid according to our individual efforts, the camaraderie of being together as a community and being included with the adults as equals, the health benefits of fresh air, sunshine and exercise, etc. AND, our schoolwork didn't suffer. The little one-teacher, one-room, "8 grades plus sub-primary" school resulted in REAL education. When my brother and I left to go to big city schools in Boston - we were a full year ahead.
But the gov't decided such opportunities for children as potato picking was cruel child labor - and outlawed it.